Days after President Donald Trump's oldest son acknowledged meeting last year with a Russian in hopes of getting dirt on Democrat Hillary Clinton's campaign, Arizona's congressional delegation largely viewed the matter through the usual partisan prism.

"As I've said many times in the past, there's another shoe that will drop and there are other shoes that will drop," McCain, R-Ariz., told reporters on Tuesday.

Donald Trump Jr. released on Tuesday emails that leave no doubt he was interested in the possibility of "official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia," offered as "part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump."

McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, subsequently told a reporter for the website RealClearPolitics that neither his senior campaign aides nor his sons would have been inclined to deal with Russians to receive negative material about a political rival.

"My sons are in the military, they'd be court-martialed," McCain was quoted as saying, per the reporter's tweet.

Asked Sen. McCain what he would've expected his top '08 campaign advisers to do if they'd received an offer of Russian oppo (like Don Jr.): pic.twitter.com/wB4CEMREq1

U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who is running for re-election in 2018, kept his distance from the developing story.

"There is a bipartisan Senate committee and a special counsel looking into that. I am sure they’ll get to the bottom of it," Flake said in a written statement.

But other Republicans dismissed the June 2016 meeting and the series of related emails Trump Jr. released or maintained a public silence on the matter, which first came to light Saturday.

Democrats see vindication

Arizona Democrats, meanwhile, said confirmation of the meeting vindicates their continued calls for a complete investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

“It is now absolutely clear that the Trump campaign understood that the Russian government was looking to help the campaign, and that the campaign at its highest levels was eager to seek and accept that assistance,” said U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., an outspoken critic of the president.

"The Trump campaign and the Trump administration have been lying about this for over a year. If any other campaign had gotten an email saying that the Russian government wanted to help the campaign, they would have contacted the FBI immediately," Gallego continued. "But not the Trump campaign. Instead, the president’s son, president’s son-in-law, and the campaign manager took a meeting to see what dirt they could get from the Russians."

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President Trump greets Trump Jr., his wife, Vanessa, and the NRA's Chris Cox after speaking to the National Rifle Association Leadership Forum at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta on April 28, 2017. Erik S. Lesser, European Pressphoto Agency

Trump Jr. and his brother Eric attend their father's announcement of Neil Gorsuch as his nominee for the Supreme Court in the East Room of the White House on Jan. 31, 2017. Michael Reynolds, European Pressphoto Agency

Trump Jr. and his sister Ivanka pose inside the Chicago offices of their father near the site of his 92-story residential tower under construction along the Chicago River on May 10, 2006. Charles Rex Arbogast, AP

'Smoke on a wet log'

U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said the younger Trump’s decision to release the email chain “was absolutely the right move,” but he still views the Russia investigation as having little merit.

“I think this is just smoke on a wet log that the Democrats keep trying to light on fire,” he told the Fox Business Network. “There’s nothing there. You’ll see there’s nothing there. It was a brief meeting ostensibly over opposition research. … I’m not even sure it’s a poor judgment call. Maybe it was handled in a clumsy fashion, but the reality is everybody’s seeking opposition research on their opponents.”

U.S. Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., didn't address Russian interference, but did suggest the matter was played up for political purposes.

"I don't remember this much attention given to the previous administration when they used American tax dollars on a campaign to oust (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu," he said. "The left couldn't even find Russia on a map until they learned it could hurt Donald Trump. This story is part of an endless campaign to gridlock Washington and undermine the American people's decision in November to implement the GOP agenda."

U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., didn't elaborate on the latest turn in the Russia case and instead pointed to the ongoing investigation.

“The Justice Department has assigned a special counsel to investigate Russia’s attempted interference in our election, and I am hopeful that investigation currently underway will provide answers that Americans are seeking,” she said.

McSally has previously called Trump's decision to fire former FBI Director James Comey "deeply concerning," but has largely sidestepped the larger issue of Russian interference in the election.

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For years, Russia's government has tried to lift U.S. sanctions that the Magnitsky Act created.a
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Dems: Probes must continue

“This is about putting country above politics,” he said in a statement. "No American should ever work with a foreign government to interfere with our democracy.

“It is critical that we allow any investigation into Russia’s efforts to undermine our electoral process to continue unabated and get to the bottom of this. The American people deserve answers, and they deserve them now,” O’Halleran said.

Gallego worried Trump will either fire former FBI Director Robert Mueller, who was appointed as special counsel to investigate Russian interference in the election, or issue pardons pre-emptively to thwart the Mueller probe. Congressional Republicans, meanwhile, have been dismissive of the matter because Trump supports their efforts on repealing the Affordable Care Act and cutting taxes for the wealthy, Gallego said.

U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., who is often mentioned as a potential challenger to Flake, said Wednesday the emails suggest a concerted effort to undermine the election.

"These emails demonstrate a willingness and intent to collude with the Russian government to impact our election, which is against the law and threatens the integrity of the American electoral system," she said. "I expect that special counsel Mueller will include these emails and any related events and circumstances in his investigation. Like most Americans, I am anxious for his investigation to proceed swiftly and without interference, so we can secure the legitimacy of the American electoral process from further foreign attacks."

Some aren't talking

Republican Reps. Paul Gosar and David Schweikert made no public remarks on their usual social-media channels and didn’t respond to The Arizona Republic’s request for comment.